Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Have you ever heard of Dr. Ben Carson, neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland? If you haven’t heard of him, I encourage you to Google his name, read his autobiography entitled Gifted Hands, and watch the movie about his life, also entitled Gifted Hands. Dr. Carson has an incredible testimony. He’s been awarded 60+ honorary doctorate degrees, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, successfully separated twins conjoined at the brain, developed brain surgeries/procedures that no one else had ever performed (or even thought to do), plus many more achievements too numerous to list.

But the thing I love most about Dr. Carson is that he gives all glory to God, which is hard to find in the medical community. God gave Dr. Carson his gifted hands, and he uses his talent for God’s glory. Dr. Carson is the top neurosurgeon in the world, and he doesn’t take credit for this—he gives all the credit to God.

Why am I sharing about Dr. Carson?

Well, Selah is going to see Dr. Ben Carson November 30!!!

After I wrote THIS post, several people suggested that I contact Dr. Carson to see if he would review her case. I had seen Dr. Carson’s movie a couple of years ago, but I never once thought about taking Selah to see him. In fact, the first few times I saw the suggestions from readers that I should contact Dr. Carson for Selah’s case, I dismissed the idea. Selah already has a great neurosurgeon, and her problems seem to be more neurological/behavioral at this point, so why would we need to see another neurosurgeon?!?!

After about the fifth time of reading comments and emails about taking Selah to see Dr. Carson, I briefly considered it. Then I talked myself out of it again, viewing the idea from a logical standpoint. First of all, how would we even get an appointment with Dr. Carson, and then, if we did, WHY would we need to see him?!?!

So, I dismissed the idea completely, for good.

Then, just before bed that night, I opened my laptop (for the first time that day/night), when lo and behold, what to my wondering eyes would appear?!?!

Dr. Ben Carson’s story was open on my laptop. I hadn’t Googled his name, hadn’t searched for info on him, hadn’t done anything to make his name appear on my laptop. It wasn’t in an email either. It was on Facebook! On someone’s status update (a person I don’t personally know), the very first status update that popped up on my screen, I read words that went something like this, “Have you seen Dr. Ben Carson’s movie Gifted Hands? Awesome movie about an awesome neurosurgeon offering awesome hope to those with brain issues.”

OK, y’all, that movie was released in 2009, yet someone is urging people to watch it in 2012, at the very time that I had dismissed the idea of contacting Dr. Ben Carson.

Alright God, gotcha, I thought to myself. I’ll research contacting Dr. Ben Carson to see if it’s even possible to see him.

The following day, which was a Saturday, I called and left a message for Dr. Ben Carson at a phone number in Maryland. I explained Selah’s diagnoses and her current struggles with behavior issues. I left my phone number in case someone wanted to return my call. I prayed that if God wanted Selah to see Dr. Carson, that He would do whatever necessary with that message to make His will known.

Monday morning, just two days after I left that message, I received a phone call from the office manager of Dr. Ben Carson, letting me know that he would see Selah!!!!!!!! She acted so calm and mature, like this was no big deal, so I withheld my screams and squeals of delight until after I hung up the phone.

I had to fill out some paperwork and send Selah’s medical records to Dr. Carson’s office, which I did quickly, and then I received a phone call last week telling me the date of Selah’s appointment.

November 30.

I was (still am) completely stunned. I still don’t know exactly why God has Selah seeing Dr. Carson, since he’s a neurosurgeon and, to my knowledge, Selah doesn’t need more neurosurgery at this point. But I'm trusting God has a plan in this, even though I have no clue what it is!!!

And we found out Friday that Selah’s EEG, that was done the night of her sleep study (Aug. 28), shows Selah is having seizures in her sleep. We’ve been dissatisfied with Selah’s current neurological care (neurosurgeon is great, but her neurologist doesn’t have time to see her except every 4-6 months). I called Selah’s neurologist’s office twice to inquire about medicating Selah for her seizures, but was told her neurologist wants to wait until her next visit, which is at the end of February.

We’ve also noticed Selah having “absent seizures” during the day, which I’ve told the neurologist about numerous times. He still doesn’t want to medicate Selah. I’m not sure why. Selah has a documented seizure disorder and she was on Keppra (anti-seizure medication) until 12 months of age, so I’m perplexed as to why her neurologist doesn’t want to treat the current seizures.

So, I sent an email to Dr. Carson as well as to another email address for Johns Hopkins’ neurology appointments to inquire about Selah seeing a neurologist as Johns Hopkins as well. Johns Hopkins is the top neurology and neurosurgery hospital in the world, so I’m eager to see what God has in store during Selah’s visit there.

Meanwhile, Selah is now on Risperdal, which has improved her daytime behaviors by about 15%. Her sleep has been more disrupted by Risperdal though, which wasn’t expected. Keep praying for Selah, for answers, for help to give her the best quality of life with the best opportunities for her future.

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